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Kidz Bopolis 2
Kidz Bopolis 2 is the largest and most populous city in the country of Naginanehs. It has an estimated population of about 160,000 distributed over a land area of about 2 square miles. It was the first city within the newly developed country to be founded, and remains today the cultural, financial, and commercial center of its region. Kidz Bopolis 2 is notorious for being a product of limited urban planning. At the time of its founding in the year 2000, a loose plan was in place for the city’s continued development up to a hundred years ahead of time. History Etymology The prevailing legend popular among residents of Kidz Bopolis 2 claims that the city earned its name purely as a joke. The historical founder of the city asked a friend of his what their new attempt at an urban planned city should be named, to which the friend responded “I don’t know, something crazy like Kidz Bopolis”. Though clearly a joke, the name was chosen, and the founders moved forward with initial development of the city. After the unfortunate bankruptcy, influx of natural disasters, and sudden removal from existence of the original Kidz Bopolis, Kidz Bopolis 2 was founded. Urban Planning Once funding was secured and lessons were learned from the disaster of a city that the original Kidz Bopolis turned out to be, planning began for Kidz Bopolis 2. The city was constructed based on an urban plan drawn up by a small team of young economists and urban planners who recently graduated from the University of St. Thomas. In its early stages, the city was intended to develop in two major districts: a northern residential and commercial district, and a southern industrial district. The northern district was to consist of large blocks of residential areas, separated by vertical (north to south) strips of commercial zoning. The southern district was to consist entirely of industrial zoning. These two districts were to be separated by an open tract of land, with the intention being that as the city developed in the future it would be easier to improve the quality of life in an area separated from the noise and pollution of industry, rather than adjacent to it. Rather than roads or highways, a subway system was placed between and within the two districts, which was intended to grow in size and complexity alongside the city. This was to alleviate traffic issues from the very beginning of the city’s history; it was the planners’ full intention that it would be easy to live in Kidz Bopolis 2 without a personal automobile. As the city earned wealth and built a name for itself, small neighborhoods would become targets for advancement and quality of life improvements. All at once, police stations, fire stations, hospitals, elementary schools, high schools, and libraries would be constructed in neighborhoods. Sets of these buildings would be built years apart to allow for the previous set of such buildings to to pay itself off as wealthier residents moved into the improved areas. As overall wealth of the city and quality of life increases, slowly the open land between the two districts would be allowed to fill with industry and commercial areas that tended to produce less pollution and served higher paying jobs. Once all space was full, the city would begin to build upwards, rezoning low density areas to high density to accommodate more jobs and residents. Development Kidz Bopolis 2 was founded without issue in 2000, and in its early years developed almost entirely according to the urban plan it was following. Being one of the first cities of its kind to be planned out, most new residents were adventurous and knew from the beginning they were participating in an urban experiment of sorts. One unexpected issue that did arise was commute time. Despite relatively new and fast subways being installed, the area of empty land separating the residential and industrial areas was simply too large, and residents along the outskirts of the residential areas complained that their commute was far too long. The mayor at the time, Mayor Truman, ignored such complaints and stuck to the urban plan, moving forward with some areas of the residential districts remaining abandoned as a result. Another oversight which quickly made itself known was the lack of public services within the industrial district. If one wanted to commit crime, all one had to do was leave the well policed residential areas and make their way to the industrial districts, where no police or fire services existed. Begrudgingly, Mayor Truman built police and fire stations to cover the industrial areas after a particularly large riot over union rights, and a great conflagration swallowed an entire block of factories, causing the deaths of 47 citizens and the injuries of 133 more. This incident became known as "The big ol' flame of '07". By 2020, the city had grown to be almost entirely full besides the designated strip of open land between the northern and southern districts, now nicknamed "Three Doors Down" and "Usher" respectively. At that time, Mayor Truman retired, and a new mayor was elected, Mayor Brewster, who moved forward with the next planned phase of Kidz Bopolis 2's development. Small educational centers, up to university level, were built in the eastern corner of Three Doors Down. These served about a quarter of the population of the city. In the same area, parks were built, small roads were upgraded, and low density residential and commercial areas were rezoned to accommodate high density structures and developments. This new neighborhood quickly became an affluent area, and well paying jobs began to become more common in and around this area. Continued Development Once the newly upgraded neighborhood had developed, slowly the rest of the city became the target for similar expansion, spreading from the east, one district at a time. At the same time, the once empty land between the residential and industrial areas was zoned equally as residential and industrial areas. This was the first of many future departures from the original plan, since the area of land between the main districts was intended to only be filled with manufacturing plants and office buildings. In the year 2045, a large portion of the industrial district in the south was bulldozed and replaced with a residential area. This was so that there would be a neighborhood more convenient for the low income population to live in, as it was right near the factories in which they worked as opposed to all the way across town. Since the low income population moved from the northern areas to this new southern residential district, this also facilitated the movement of more wealthy people into the well developed northern areas. By 2055, the city had no open land, and all areas of the city were zoned to accommodate high density infrastructure. Despite this, the city stagnated in development, and so continued on with its plateau'd growth until the year 2062 when Mayor Brewster passed away. His emphasis on improving quality of life for most citizens of Kidz Bopolis 2 caused him to be much loved among the populace; thus a statue in his likeness was erected within the exact center of the city. Elected to take his place was Mayor Chenfeld, who had ambitious plans for the continued development of the city. Modern development Mayor Chenfeld's recent plan to drive away environmentally unfriendly industry and to attract high wealth industries and citizens has been unpopular and only partially successful, not to mention completely outside of the original city plan. Beginning in the year 2062, taxes were raised on low income families and dirty industries, and lowered on high wealth offices, wealthy residents, and high-tech industry. This was to increase hardship on low income families and the dirty industries they supported, encouraging them to move out and be replaced by higher wealth industries and residents. Though economically this may have been a good move, it was considered very insensitive and harmful towards Kidz Bopolis 2's less fortunate residents. As a result Mayor Chenfeld's public opinion dropped rapidly and significantly, and although many people and companies did leave, much of the space left behind failed to be repopulated by wealthy families and high tech industries, mostly due to the remaining prevalence of manufacturing industry, which produces enough air and water pollution to continue to discourage high tech industry from moving in, and is prevalent enough so that making it move out would result in the economic collapse of the city. Because of this failure to repopulate now barren areas, Kidz Bopolis 2's population fell from almost 200,000 to about 160,000, and the city's economy is ruined, having gone from making almost 20,000 simoleans a month to losing money. As a result of this economic crisis, Mayor Chenfeld reduced funding to public services such as schools and hospitals. Though in the short term that did put the city back into being profitable, in the long term this move is expected to drive out higher wealth residents, the very opposite of Chenfeld's original intentions. Similarly, Chenfeld's well intentioned initiative to provide cleaner energy, moving from coal plants to nuclear power, has been a costly investment that has yet to pay itself off. Mayor Chenfeld resigned from office due to public pressure in 2064, and her recently elected successor, Mayor Thompson, has yet unknown plans for the revival of the once booming city. Geography and Climate Geography Kidz Bopolis 2 is built on an entirely flat and landlocked plane. Originally agricultural land, all previous residents and businesses were removed in preparation for construction of the city. Climate Kidz Bopolis 2 sees fair weather year round, with an average daytime temperature of 21 degrees Celcius. It never rains, snows, and natural disasters are rare enough to be negligible. Economy Most of Kidz Bopolis 2's income comes mostly from manufacturing industry and a large middle class, who are taxed fairly, as opposed to the highly taxed poor and the under taxed wealthy. Thus, unsurprisingly, dirty industry and low income families are almost nonexistent in modern Kidz Bopolis 2. In contrast, high wealth industries and families do not move into the city despite low tax rates. Though many goods are manufactured in the city, Kidz Bopolis 2 has few neighboring cities to export to. It's main trade partners are Kidz Bopolis 3 and Lameville. Culture Attitude Historically, Kidz Bopolis 2 has had a cheerful and united culture of optimism and happiness, mostly due to constant changes and improvements to the benefit of all. In recent years, with the loss of a lower class and growth of the upper economic class, citizens are said to be more often snobby and selfish rather than helpful and charitable. Sports The national sport of Naginanehs is fencing, and its popularity within the country rings especially true in Kidz Bopolis 2. Every city park has 3 lanes for sword fighting, and schools and universities oftentimes have large budgets in place specifically for fencing and fencing related equipment and activity planning. Historically, a yearly tournament takes place in which each city block sends forth a single champion to participate in an elimination style tournament titled the "City's Central Sword Swinging Shenanigan Convention", or the CCSSSC. The winner of each tournament lives the next month of their life on a paid vacation to a location of their choosing. The notoriously unique name for this event comes from the same person who christened the city as "Kidz Bopolis". Since 2063, some city blocks choose not to participate in the CCSSSC in protest of mistreatment of the poor. Parks and Recreation There is a city park at least once every three blocks. Each park contains a small grove of oak trees, a playground, three fencing lanes, and ample open space for activity. Parks are often a place for communities to gather for meetings, events, and to watch fencing. Government Kidz Bopolis 2 is ruled by a single Mayor with absolute power. Elections by popular vote for the position of Mayor run annually, and Mayors can be reelected an infinite number of times. Transportation Kidz Bopolis 2 has a large and complex subway system numbering 9 miles in length that runs below the city. In the same manner that a park can be found once every three city blocks, a subway station borders every park. Transportation by underground rail from one end of the city to the other takes just 12 minutes. The cost and merit of this concept has been brought under scrutiny many times, but it is consistently ruled that the convenience and novelty of this system far outweighs its cost.